[Thinkpads] X31 vs X40

[Xuan]

Hi, I was thinking in getting a notebook.
I'm not a notebook guy and I won't replace my desktop setup with it, so I don't want something fancy and expensive.
I found these two models at reasonable price, but I can't decide which I like the most.

As I read in reviews the X31 seems more solid and can allocate a faster hard drive, in the other hand the X40 is smaller a lighter.

Many seem to have good knowleadge in thinkpads, what do you think?

What about the keyboard? Is any of both better than the other?

Thanks

[Xuan]

Another thing I remembered might be important is linux support, any experiences?

[CX23882]

Out of the two, I prefer the X31 in spite of it being slightly larger/heavier. I bought both models at one point - a brand new X40 and a used (but nearly mint) X31, and the X31 was the one I kept. I found the hard disk in the X40 to be too slow, and due to the type of disks the chassis can accomodate it could be difficult to fit a faster disk. Even though the X31 is larger than the X40, it's by no means bulky or heavy.

The keyboard on the X31 is fantastic - easily the best laptop keyboard I've ever used and probably the best non-mechanical keyboard I've used, period. I got mine from eBay and bought a new battery for it, on which it would run for somelike like 5 or 6 hours (sorry, can't remember, my ex has this laptop now).

I can't speak for Linux support, I stuck with Windows XP and it was nice and snappy. I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to get running under any modern variant of Linux, although you might want to check into the wireless/Bluetooth card. There are several possible Wifi/BT cards fitted to these machines IIRC.

Just watch out for marks on the screen from the pointing stick, and wear to the rubberised lid. The rubberised case gets marked quite easily, so if these things bother you, you might want to ask the seller. Ex-corporate laptops also tend to have stickers on the lids and when these get removed the rubber is often damaged. I was fortunate to get a machine that was very well looked after and only had a little bit of wear on the corner edges where it had been slipped in and out of its bag.

I spent a long time finding a good X31 - in my experience the privately owned ones tend to be in better condition.

[ch_123]

Linux support is great on pretty much all Thinkpad models. I'd check out a site called ThinkWiki - it has loads of guides to getting Linux set up on the various Thinkpad models.

If the X40 has a slow HD, you could always replace it with a newer one... after all, the hard drive that comes with it is probably quite small anyway.

[CX23882]

Unfortunately, the X40 needs a 1.8" hard disk, which are almost impossible find at anything over the slow 4200RPM that they shipped with.

[keyb_gr]

Unfortunately, the X40 needs a 1.8" hard disk, which are almost impossible find at anything over the slow 4200RPM that they shipped with.

By contrast, you can stick a 5400 rpm 160 gig drive into the X31/32. Given that the harddrive tends to be the performance bottleneck in a notebook, I'd rather not be stuck with something too slow.

The X31 can still use some older kind of docking station that'll no longer work with the X32.

The later X60 models have one distinct advantage over the X31/32: They have a rear-mounted battery and also accept a larger one.

I was looking into these a while back as sort of a netbook alternative. Currently I don't have that much use for a portable computer to justify the expense though.

[nvarsj]

I owned an x31 for just over a year, using it daily for school. I ended up selling it for the same price I paid for it (around 1k). I now have an x41 non-tablet I paid about 300 for - I've had it for about 3 months now, using it daily as well.

So which one do I like better? They're both excellent thinkpads (pre-lenovo, woo). The keyboards are excellent on both, I notice no difference in quality here - the best scissor keys on a laptop I've ever used. Both have excellent Linux support, my x41 with Ubuntu has everything working, even the fingerprint scanner.

So which do I prefer? It's a tough call. I think I'd go with the x41 for one big reason - it's noticeably lighter than the x31. Other advantages is longer battery life and more max ram (maxed mine out to 2GB). It just feels so solid, and I can pick it up while open with one hand. Good luck doing that on a Dell or even a Mac.

The disadvantage would be the nonstandard hard drive that is hard to replace. However I'm quite happy with my hd performance. In this regard using Linux and having 2GB of ram probably helps. No complaints really. Also if you really want to, you can always upgrade to an SSD - which I plan to do so eventually.

I may be slightly biased against my X31 - the LCD bezel presses against the keys when iclosed. I ended up getting white spots of doom (older macbook users should be familiar) from where my touchpoint and some of the keys touched the bezel. It probably didn't help I was commuting with it in a messenger bag, so it got bumped around a bunch. Had to get the screen replaced 2 or 3 times under warranty.

[nvarsj]

Oh yeah, a couple other neat things about the x41. I have an extended battery which gives me a whopping 6 hours or so of battery life doing all kinds of stuff. Plus the 1.6 p-m is significantly better than an intel atom (what's in most netbooks). I don't see any reason to get a netbook when these old thinkpads are still floating around on ebay.

[iMav]

I had an X60s that I used in Iraq for the better part of a year.  Had the extended battery and it was a great, portable machine.  I sold it off a while back, but do miss it from time to time.  

Use an HP mini (2140 HD) these days for my ultra portable needs and it suits me fine.

[Xuan]

Thanks a lot.
I'm not fully decided yet but I'm leaning to the X31 side, due the faster hard drive.

[bhtooefr]

The X31 also has ATI discrete graphics, as opposed to the integrated graphics in the X40. And, IIRC, the X40 is i855, so it'll be pretty terrible integrated graphics.

[keyb_gr]

The X31 also has ATI discrete graphics, as opposed to the integrated graphics in the X40.

The X40's graphics are supposed to be faster anyway, since the Mobility Radeon M6 in the X31 is hardly anything to write home about (it's basically a Radeon 7000, which on desktops already was a bottom end model back in 2003). I don't know about the hit on main memory bandwidth though.

[nvarsj]

Who buys an ultraportable for performance? It's all about the battery and weight, baby.

x31/x40/x41 all have good enough performance for anything that's not a game or video/3d editing.